Culture is one of those things that all organizations say is important, but it is easily ignored or forgotten in the daily grind of running a business, non-profit, or school district.Building an environment where employees feel valued and engaged, however, is critical to an organization's success. This could translate to greater productivity and profit for a growing company or more effective teachers and improved student performance in the classroom. I read a great article in the July/August issue of Harvard Business Review by Jon R. Katzenbach, Caroline Kronley, and Ilona Steffen called, "Cultural Change That Sticks: Start with ...

I received an email earlier this week that immediately caught my eye. The tag line said, "Why it's time for HR to quit being so wimpy." I am always interested in new, innovate, and strategic ways to approach HR, so I had to check it out. The link took me to a blog, by the business and HR thought leader, Dr. John Sullivan called "Bold and Outrageous HR Practices That May Indicate Your Approach is Too Conservative," in which he presents the idea that conservative HR departments are a thing of the past and organizations are in a "battle" to ...

Seventy-one percent of Americans have "trust and confidence" in our country's public school teachers, 48 percent would give the public schools in their community an A or B, and three of four people in the country believe the Common Core State Standards will provide more consistency in the quality of education between school districts and states. These are just a few of the findings from the 44th Annual Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, which was released today. The PDK/Gallup poll has been administered for decades to gauge the opinions of educators, ...

I recently met with superintendents, treasurers, principals, and teacher leaders from across Ohio to discuss the use of measures, process improvement, and performance management in education. The group is working to create a list of metrics for scorecards around human resources, finance, IT, operations, transportation, custodial/maintenance, food services, and stakeholder engagement. The conversation touched on a number of topics, including the use of leading and lagging indicators--what they are and how these measures can be used to support educational improvement. Historically, school districts have focused on lagging indicators, which include graduation rates, end of course exams, value-added data, AYP, ...

We have all had a great teacher who made a difference in our lives--a math teacher who stayed after school to help us learn Algebra, a coach who not only inspired us to compete on the field, but showed us how to be a leader off of it, or a principal who taught us how to believe in ourselves and dream big. A single teacher can touch the lives of 3,000 students over the course of a career, according to data provided by the USC Rossier School of Education, which I referenced in a previous post. A growing number ...

On July 30, The New Teacher Project (TNTP) released a report called "The Irreplaceables," which looks at teachers who are "so successful they are nearly impossible to replace, but who too often vanish from schools as the result of neglect and inattention." The full report is available on TNTP's website. Information below is quoted directly and the sources of the quotes noted. The topic has stirred controversy in some circles. However, I would recommend that all K-12 talent managers read the paper with an open mind and make your own conclusions on the findings. The report is built on the ...

A hot topic of debate (yes, debate) at my office, and within Human Resources departments across the country, is what tools and practices should and shouldn't be used in the selection process. For example, is GPA a good or bad indicator of someone's future potential? Credit checks are also a measure of contention. For financial and security reasons, I believe in using credit checks for specific positions (but not for all positions). For example, in my previous job, I ran credit checks on employees who would be: a) directly handling cash; b) possessing organization bank and/or investment account information; ...

If you took a poll of professionals in America, most would probably say they have heard of the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, but a much smaller number could actually tell you what it does and how it impacts them. In fact, I have worked with numerous people during my career who had never heard of the program. I am often asked, "Isn't FMLA what women go on when they have a baby. It's maternity leave, right? That's not something men can take advantage." Some of this misinformation can be attributed to employers doing a poor job of ...

This is a guest post by Teresa Daulong, Battelle for Kids' Strategic Measures Specialist. Teresa works daily with large urban school districts across the country to help every employee understand their impact on student success. With 16 years of experience working with organizations to improve performance, she believes that creating systems of shared accountability is the key to success both at home and in schools everywhere. How do you get your team focused? Do you have a clearly defined strategy and end goals? In sports, coaches share their strategy with their team at the start of each season and adjust ...

I've heard this conversation in past jobs, and I hear it working in school districts now: "(Enter employee's name) is just fantastic! What do we do if they leave? We will never be able to replace them!" Well, guess what--it's inevitable. People leave organizations. They retire. They are offered better pay or a promotion with another organization. They pass. They move to a different city or state. These are challenges HR professionals deal with daily. So when it comes down to it, organizations have two options: 1) complain, worry, wallow, moan, and pout about the possibility of people leaving, or ...